Seòmar agus comataidhean

I can confirm that I have laid a report in Parliament today that provides an update on the Scottish Government’s renewable heat target. The report is now available on the Scottish Government website (at www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802015348 ).

Renewable heat generated in Scotland in 2020 was equivalent to 6.4% of non-electrical fuels consumed for heat. This represents a slight decrease in useful renewable heat generated since 2019. This reduction in renewable heat was largely due to reduced output from large biomass systems at industrial sites, and should be seen in the context of a difficult year for the Scottish economy due to the pandemic.

Reaching 6.4% renewable heat means we missed the 11% target, and is clearly disappointing. Deployment of renewable heat has seen challenges over the past decade. For example, the delay in introducing tariff guarantees for the Renewable Heat Incentive resulted in uncertainties for businesses in Scotland and delays to investment in new capacity. Challenges to deployment have been accompanied by outturn data on higher than anticipated demand that indicate that around a third more non-electrical fuel is consumed for heat than had been anticipated in 2009.

Beneath the headline statistic we see continued growth in the deployment of building-level renewable heat systems, particularly heat pumps. The Heat in Buildings Strategy, published earlier this month, makes clear we must accelerate deployment of zero emissions heat technologies so that by 2030 over 1 million homes and the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings are converted to zero emissions heat. The Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out an ambitious policy package to achieve this, including our commitment to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to help kick-start growth in the market and support those least able to pay; our intention to bring forward legislation, subject to consultation and to limits on devolved competence, that provides the regulatory framework for zero emissions heating and energy efficiency; and actions to expand our work with the supply chain to create new investment opportunities and create and support high value, local jobs.

We are maximising effort in devolved areas, but there are limits to what we can achieve on our own and critical policy areas remain reserved to the UK Government. While the UK’s new Heat and Buildings Strategy includes measures which will complement the comprehensive support package already available in Scotland the overall plan for action does not go far or fast enough. We will continue to work with the UK Government as it implements its strategy and call on it to accelerate action to support and enable delivery in Scotland, such as reforming the energy markets and amending the Gas Act.

In addition to the report I laid today, the Energy Savings Trust have published the report Renewable Heat in Scotland 2020 , which provides further insight into these figures. The Energy Savings Trust report is now available at https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/report/renewable-heat-in-scotland-2020/

The BSL National Plan Progress Report will be published today in British Sign Language, English and Easyread versions. This Report details the progress made since the Plan was published. I am pleased to report that the majority of the actions in the Plan have been put into effect, and have either been completed, or are ongoing as this Report is published. In almost all areas of public life in Scotland, significant progress has been made in promoting BSL, in making the language better understood and respected, and in improving access to services and support for BSL signers. We will continue to promote and support the use of BSL as one of Scotland’s vibrant indigenous languages.

The breakdown of Scottish Government funding through Zero Waste Scotland, to support Local Authorities aligning their services with the Household Recycling Charter, is outlined in the following table:

In 2019, the First Minister announced a programme of investment over 4 years to improve perinatal and infant mental health services across Scotland.

The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board was established to drive forward this work by providing oversight and strategic direction. This includes supporting boards to develop services and ensure that recruitment happens in a timely manner.

Since March 2019, the Scottish Government has invested over £16 million in perinatal and infant mental health.

This figure includes;

• funding for community specialist mental health services in every health board in Scotland and inpatient services for women and families with the highest level of need,
• investment in the third sector across 33 organisations providing perinatal mental health support to women and families, and
• funding to support the voices of lived experience to shape the development of policy and services, and raise awareness of perinatal and infant mental health among professionals, policy makers and the public.

Scottish Government will continue to invest in these services over the life of the Programme Board. We will continue to invest in perinatal and infant mental health to extend our investment in these services beyond the life of the Programme Board. This funding will enable boards to recruit the required staff, fully establish specialist community perinatal and infant mental health services and deliver on Scottish Government commitments towards perinatal and infant mental health in the long term.

The Programme Board has incurred £423,044 in costs since 2019-20. This includes fees for Programme Board management, research and publishing, as well as the administration and development of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health third sector funds.

The number of patients who have waited over 12 weeks for Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran are published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) on a quarterly basis. These details are available on PHS’s website and can be found in table 1.2 through the following link: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/8811/newop_aug21.xlsx

After suffering a substantial cyberattack in December 2020, SEPA enacted business continuity arrangements and implemented procedures to ensure priority planning and business critical cases were responded to.

SEPA worked with planning authorities and other consulting bodies, providing practical planning advice. By August 2021, SEPA had processed the backlog of cases and to date have responded to 1597 consultations.

Estimated spend on dementia by each Integration Joint Board in each year since 2016 is as follows:-

Our clear ambition is that no one should be inappropriately delayed in hospital once they are clinically ready for discharge. However, given the current challenges health and social care partnerships are experiencing in relation to recruitment of care staff, and the increased level of needs people are presenting with, we need to set a realistic trajectory for reduction. Our intention is therefore to see a return to the position seen between the Summer of 2020 and Spring of 2021, freeing up at least 500 beds for winter.

We listened closely to small retailers in designing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Under the DRS Regulations, return-point operators including small retailers will be able to claim a reasonable handling fee from the DRS scheme administrator for each container returned. This fee must cover costs including the rental value of space used to collect or store scheme packaging and will ensure small retailers are not out of pocket for operating a return point.

Retailers will also be able to refuse returns where the quantity of material is disproportionately greater than the volume of containers they would usually sell as part of a single transaction.

We are confident that these protections will ensure that small retailers can successfully operate a return point. Nevertheless, the DRS Regulations do allow a retailer to apply to the Scottish Ministers for an exemption from the obligation to operate a return point where they meet certain criteria. Further information is available at: https://depositreturnscheme.zerowastescotland.org.uk/ .

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS awarded the pre-construction services contract for the HMP Highland project to Balfour Beatty in September 2021.

The SPS are working with Balfour Beatty to further develop the design of HMP Highland, prior to the award of a stage two contract that will deliver the construction element of the project.